Long press icons to get quick access to widgets [Diving into Android O]

Widgets have always been in an awkward place on Android. During the early days of the OS, nearly every app included a custom widget, as it allowed you to interact with your content much faster from the comfort of your home screen. And while these widgets are still immensely useful in today’s era, the method of actually implementing them has been moved around so many times you might not even know where to find them anymore.

Google is looking to bring widgets back though, and is making it easy to access your widgets directly through the app icon. With Android O’s long-press feature, you can simply hold the app you want to use a widget for and tap the widget icon, which will give you all the available home screen buddies you’ve come to know and love.

Check out the screenshots above to get a better idea of how they’re implemented. It’s nice to see Goggle streamlining the widget’s way forward, and long-pressing has made it as easy as ever to add them to your home screen. What do you think? Let us know your thoughts down in the comments.